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Islamic
Sufism:
Mystics of the
Islamic faith
By
Micheal Jean Nystrom-Schut
(Excerpted from MOUNTAIN PEAKS, Volume 1:
Elevated Glimpses of the High Life, written in 2001-2002)
Wherever
mysticism has appeared on the earth, it is a fascinating subject in which to
delve. The reality seems to be that mystics are obviously more “plugged”
into the deeper dimensions of life (of reality) than is the “average”
person, and we should want to know more of what makes them that way.
The
poet, Jalal al-Din Rumi, was a Sufi mystic. If a seeker wished to launch a study
of ever-deepening spirituality, Rumi would not be a bad choice of such an
individual to investigate.
Recent
translations of his writings will easily take you to new spiritual depths.
Perhaps
an even more famous Sufi was al-Hallaj, whose teachings referred to a God of
love and the occurrence of divine encounters in life. Al-Hallaj, an admirer and
follower of Jesus Christ, was reportedly accused of blasphemy when he suggested
that he was God.
In
the teachings of pure Sufism, ordinary consciousness could give way to the
dualistic notion that we, as subject, and God (or world) as object, need to be
two distinct things. Therefore, a merger with God was available to the mind of
man.
In
other words, we could merge with God.
In
922 C.E., al-Hallaj, for his audacious and blasphemous point of view, was
removed by the orthodox faction, and executed…on a cross, no less.
The early Sufi’s seriously offended more traditional Muslims. One
phrase, which translated something like, “glory be to me!” was considered
insulting by Islamic “mainliners.” It seems that orthodox, authoritarian
“types,” no matter where they surface, have always struggled with people who
have had the knack of confusing God with self.
We’ve
all known of the “misuses” of talking about God and Man in the same breath.
But the pure and mystical-living Sufis, people who had no trouble understanding
the interconnectedness of God/Man, seemed to have no struggle with the negative
aspects of this.
Their
fruits were self-evident, and still are, today.
Sufism
teaches the profound closeness of God to the human soul. The “fallen ones”
– people who insist on our separation, our evil nature, and the impossibility
of being “good” and “clean” just like God – will always find ways to
interrupt the quiet tranquility of those who in their minds are literally “at
one” with God.
Amazingly,
in these present days too, and just as it was twelve hundred years ago, many
Muslims, intent on updating and modernizing their religion, want to see Sufism
abolished. They often consider it irrelevant, outdated and heretical. And they
still find it offensive that God and Man should be considered to such an
intimate state of union.
This,
in their eyes, violates fundamental (there’s that word again) principles of
the Islamic faith.
…Yet the Sufis continue to roll on. They join with other inspiring
schools of seamless mystical thought to suggest the possibility of something
far, far deeper than superficial, exoteric religious practice could ever offer.
A
Sufi knows that our personal identity towards being human, with an increasing
understanding of a deeper reality, dissolves altogether into God. That’s a
pleasant thought; it makes sense too.
In
the final analysis, one has to sincerely wonder how truly different are these
understandings when considered along with the basic and essential teachings of
the world’s most famous spiritual mover and shaker from the Near East…
Are
we really all that different?
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